WHAT ROLE DID THEATER, DRAMA, ORATORY, AND OTHER PERFORMANCES SERVE IN SHAKESPEARE'S ENGLAND? WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ELIZABETHAN AND JACOBEAN THEATERS AND PERFORMANCES? WHAT WERE SETS, COSTUMES, AND SO ON LIKE IN THE THEATER OF SHAKESPEARE'S ENGLAND?Answer prepared by: Ryan D.
In Shakespeare's England theatre and drama played a very big role in society. The plays were a way for everyone, rich or poor, to enjoy themselves. There were several different types of performances. For instance there were tragedies, comedies, tragicomedies, satirical comedies, historical plays, and oratories. Tragedies were plays that ended in death of one or more of the main characters. A comedy usually has a happy ending, and can also include jokes, farce, and innuendo. Tragicomedies are a mixture of comedy and tragedy. The play seems to move towards a tragic ending, but a twist in the plot saves the characters. In Shakespeare's England theatre and drama played a very big role in society. The plays were a way for everyone, rich or poor, to enjoy themselves. There were several different types of performances. For instance there were tragedies, comedies, tragicomedies, satirical comedies, historical plays, and oratories. Tragedies were plays that ended in death of one or more of the main characters. A comedy usually has a happy ending, and can also include jokes, farce, and innuendo. Tragicomedies are a mixture of comedy and tragedy. The play seems to move towards a tragic ending, but a twist in the plot saves the characters.Satirical comedies attack idea or individuals by laughing at them. Historical plays usually tell the stories of a great leader or king. And then oratory was a type of performance that tells a story that was passed down from generation to generation by memory.
Elizabethan plays relied on the audiences imaginations. For example at the beginning of the play Henry V the chorus says that the actors and the play relies more on the imaginary forces of the audience then the realistic effects. But an orchestra would often play a range of different instruments to heighten the the excitement of battle scenes. The actors would also often improvise a dance or jig at the end of the play.
The way that most theaters were built before the 1640’s were all quiet similar. According to Francois Laroque in his book The Age of Shakespeare,
"Each theater had the same basic structure, it would have a stage partially covered by a thatched roof supported by two pillars. A playhouse averaged forty feet in height and was round or octagonal in shape, with a diameter of about eighty feet. Allowing for a depth of roughly thirteen feet for the three-tiered galleries and boxes, the auditorium itself could not have occupied much more then sixty-five feet, into which space there projected, by about twenty-five feet, a raised rectangular stage approximately forty feet wide" (67-68).
Almost everyone could afford to see a play back then because of the wide range of prices offered by the “box offices” during the time. There was the “pit” which was a standing room around the stage that would cost only a penny. There were also covered galleries that increased in price as the galleries got higher and higher. The first row of covered galleries were in reach of almost all working persons, it would cost about 1/12 of the average working mans salary. The second row were the preserve of rich city merchants and the nobility. The audiences were very diverse though. There would be rogues, pickpockets, and prostitutes that would attend the plays. Because of this plays found a bad reputation with the Church. So you can see that plays were very important parts of people’s lives at the time.
Works Cited
Cooper, Donald, and Ian Holm. The Usborne World of Shakespeare. Tulsa, Oklahoma: EDC Publishing, 2001. Print. Laroque, Rrancois. The Age of Shakespeare. 1. 1. Discoveries, N/A. 60-72. Print.
Rosen, Michael. Shakespeare: His Work & His World. 1. 1. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, N/A. 40-41. Print.
In Shakespeare's England theatre and drama played a very big role in society. The plays were a way for everyone, rich or poor, to enjoy themselves. There were several different types of performances. For instance there were tragedies, comedies, tragicomedies, satirical comedies, historical plays, and oratories. Tragedies were plays that ended in death of one or more of the main characters. A comedy usually has a happy ending, and can also include jokes, farce, and innuendo. Tragicomedies are a mixture of comedy and tragedy. The play seems to move towards a tragic ending, but a twist in the plot saves the characters. In Shakespeare's England theatre and drama played a very big role in society. The plays were a way for everyone, rich or poor, to enjoy themselves. There were several different types of performances. For instance there were tragedies, comedies, tragicomedies, satirical comedies, historical plays, and oratories. Tragedies were plays that ended in death of one or more of the main characters. A comedy usually has a happy ending, and can also include jokes, farce, and innuendo. Tragicomedies are a mixture of comedy and tragedy. The play seems to move towards a tragic ending, but a twist in the plot saves the characters.Satirical comedies attack idea or individuals by laughing at them. Historical plays usually tell the stories of a great leader or king. And then oratory was a type of performance that tells a story that was passed down from generation to generation by memory.
Elizabethan plays relied on the audiences imaginations. For example at the beginning of the play Henry V the chorus says that the actors and the play relies more on the imaginary forces of the audience then the realistic effects. But an orchestra would often play a range of different instruments to heighten the the excitement of battle scenes. The actors would also often improvise a dance or jig at the end of the play.
The way that most theaters were built before the 1640’s were all quiet similar. According to Francois Laroque in his book The Age of Shakespeare,
"Each theater had the same basic structure, it would have a stage partially covered by a thatched roof supported by two pillars. A playhouse averaged forty feet in height and was round or octagonal in shape, with a diameter of about eighty feet. Allowing for a depth of roughly thirteen feet for the three-tiered galleries and boxes, the auditorium itself could not have occupied much more then sixty-five feet, into which space there projected, by about twenty-five feet, a raised rectangular stage approximately forty feet wide" (67-68).
Almost everyone could afford to see a play back then because of the wide range of prices offered by the “box offices” during the time. There was the “pit” which was a standing room around the stage that would cost only a penny. There were also covered galleries that increased in price as the galleries got higher and higher. The first row of covered galleries were in reach of almost all working persons, it would cost about 1/12 of the average working mans salary. The second row were the preserve of rich city merchants and the nobility. The audiences were very diverse though. There would be rogues, pickpockets, and prostitutes that would attend the plays. Because of this plays found a bad reputation with the Church. So you can see that plays were very important parts of people’s lives at the time.
Works Cited
Cooper, Donald, and Ian Holm. The Usborne World of Shakespeare. Tulsa, Oklahoma: EDC Publishing, 2001. Print.
Laroque, Rrancois. The Age of Shakespeare. 1. 1. Discoveries, N/A. 60-72. Print.
Rosen, Michael. Shakespeare: His Work & His World. 1. 1. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, N/A. 40-41. Print.